Although the hopes were there for Pontiac to send a bunch of kids to the sectional, only three Indians will be making the trip to Rochelle after Saturday’s regional effort at PTHS.

Alex Friedman, Stephen Richardson and Vaughn Hobart placed in the top three to advance out of the Class 2A Pontiac Regional and into the Rochelle Sectional next weekend. Friedman and Richardson won their respective weight classes while Hobart weathered the wrestleback jungle to move on.

“All three of those guys did a good job,” PTHS head coach Corey Christenson said. “I don’t think as a team we wrestled real sharp, but at the same time, you look at the quality of competition and there weren’t many holes, either. We didn’t catch too many breaks but we didn’t create many.”

At 35-1, Friedman was the obvious favorite to win the 160-pound title. He did not waver in his quest for the championship.

“I felt I wrestled well all day, but it’s just a stepping stone,” Friedman said. “Sectional is another step and then state is the big show.

“Champions aren’t the ones satisfied with taking second or just qualifying. You want to beat everyone who is put on the mat in front of you.”

Friedman battled like a champion throughout the day. He won his first bout with a pin in 1:27. Friedman then stuck Ryan Bresnahan of Streator in 3:05 to make the final.

“I put it in my head to wrestle like I did all season,” Friedman said. “I had to stay after it and not take any mental breaks.”

The title round wasn’t going to be really easy. Tyler Wilkinson came into the tourney ranked seventh by Illinois Matmen. Friedman was ranked third.

It took Friedman until the third period to garner his hat trick, the third pin of the day, but he got it at the 4:17 mark.

“He kept pretty simple,” Christenson said of Friedman (38-1). “He didn’t have to open up real big. He looked smooth.”

Richardson, a junior, seemed to get better as the day wore on. He opened with an 11-4 decision and then got past Streator’s Jacob Medema with a 13-0 major decision in the semifinals.

“He’s a fun wrestler to watch,” Christenson said of Richardson. “He’s so explosive. He does a real nice job of creating angles and creating magic.”

Page 2 of 2 - Richardson showed his quickness and explosiveness in the final against Justin Barkley of Morris. Leading 4-1 after the first period, Richardson took the down position to start the second.

He got a reversal on a lightning quick move that put Barkley on his back in the blink of an eye. Richardson got a three-point near fall but was unable to get the leverage for a pin.

Moments later, Richardson got his stick. He made another quick move during a scramble and Barkley got stuck.

“I was just waiting for my opportunity to catch him,” Richardson (33-3) said. “(I) just (wanted) to go out there and wrestle my best.”

Hobart, a freshman, had the toughest road to travel by going through the wrestlebacks. His final bout meant a lot more than Friedman’s and Richardson’s matches. Friedman and Richardson were guaranteed sectional spots after winning in the semifinal round. The final was more of a glory bout for a title and a better seed in the sectional.

Hobart was wrestling to keep his season going.

He was the first major upset victim by losing 13-12 to Bryce Shewan of Yorkville in the first round. Hobart was the top seed and immediately dropped to the wrestlebacks.

“He wrestled like a freshman that first match,” Christenson said of Hobart. “After the match we talked. He then got better and better and by the end of the day he was going hard. He’s really coming along.”

Hobart came back to win 9-3 and 9-5 in the wrestlebacks to make the third-place match. Sitting opposite him was Shewan.

“I just had to wrestle a lot better than the last time — redemption,” Hobart said of the final.

Hobart dominated by winning with a 16-0 technical fall 46 seconds into the third period. It was his 30th win of the season.